SPRINGFIELD – Although he did not outright say he thought the Empowerment Zone model should be extended across the Commonwealth, Gov. Charlie Baker seemed impressed with what he saw at the Forest Park Middle School, one of the middle schools in the city’s Empowerment Zone.

He said the educational model, which allows individual schools greater autonomy to create an educational plan for its specific students, “is moving in a very powerful direction.”

A press statement, issued immediately after the governor’s visit to the middle school, read, Baker “supports legislation filed by Senator Eric Lesser and Rep. Alice Peisch that would give school districts more flexibility to turn around underperforming schools by creating ‘Innovation Zones,’ similar to what Springfield schools did.”

Baker toured a classroom and then met with Mayor Domenic Sarno, Lesser, Education Secretary James Peyser, School Superintendent Daniel Warwick, Timothy Collins, president of the Springfield Education Association and teachers and principals from a number of schools in the zone.

Warwick told Reminder Publications the schools in the zone “ are off to a very good start.” The educational model allows greater flexibility he said and just how well it is doing will be shown by test results that will be released this summer.

The zone includes every middle school in the city and Warwick said the High School of Commerce would be added to it next year.

Principal Nate Higgins of the Impact Prep School at Chestnut Middle School said, “So far it’s great.” He believes the zone’s flexibility provides educators with the strengths of both public and charter schools.

“The best of all worlds together,” he said.

He noted his school program is only the sixth grade this year, but will add a seventh grade next year.

Baker asked the assembled educators a series of questions to receive a better understanding of how the schools have used the zone’s freedom to craft a program that works better for administrators, teachers and students.

Teacher Sarah Macon of the Forest Park School spoke of how there is now time every day for teachers of each subject to meet with their colleagues to not just prepare for classes but to collaborate on teaching techniques and needs.

Mike Calvanese, principal of Duggan Academy, said the time teachers have allow them to plan for educational interventions. He noted how math teachers discussed a problem and then put together a plan to address it for the following school year.

The zone allows a principal to control the school’s schedule and budget, he added. “It’s been great.”

Principal Colleen O’Connor of Chestnut Middle School: Talented and Gifted, explained the greater collaboration between teachers and administrators is important.

“Many minds make better decisions than me and my assistant principal behind closed doors,” she explained.

Kathy Trujillo, a teacher at Forest Park, said under this new format “teachers are also learners.”

Thomas Mazza, principal at Forest Park, said that he believes the zone is “a successful model if implemented correctly” and could be used at any school regardless of its achievement level.

Collins took the opportunity to express concern to the governor about the funding of schools from the state and that tests for teachers are culturally biased and districts should be allowed to retain teachers who have proven themselves in the classroom, but “can’t clear that hurdle.”

Sarno said the adoption of the zone fro the middle schools was a reaction to the progress that had been made “but not fast enough.”